UK Autonomous Driving Startup Wayve Raises $1.2 Bn from NVIDIA, Uber & Microsoft

London-based autonomous driving software company Wayve has secured $1.2 billion in Series D funding, with total investment rising to $1.5 billion when including milestone-based commitments, in one of the largest funding rounds for a European AI start-up.

The fresh capital boosts Wayve’s valuation to $8.6 billion, underscoring strong investor confidence in its embodied artificial intelligence platform for self-driving vehicles.

The round was led by venture firms Eclipse Capital, Balderton Capital and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from major tech players Microsoft, NVIDIA and Uber, as well as global automakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis. These strategic investors join a growing roster backing Wayve’s mission to scale its adaptable AI driving software across consumer cars and robotaxi fleets worldwide.

Wayve plans to deploy its robotaxi services beginning with a London launch in 2026, in partnership with Uber, before expanding to up to 10 cities globally. Its AI Driver software — engineered to run across diverse vehicle models and hardware — also underpins next-generation advanced driver-assistance systems expected to roll out in consumer vehicles from 2027 with partners like Nissan.

“With $1.5 billion secured, we are building for a total addressable market that spans every vehicle that moves. Autonomy will not scale through city-by-city robotaxi deployments alone. This investment accelerates our path to widespread commercial deployment and positions us to build the autonomy layer that will power any vehicle everywhere,” Alex Kendall, Co-Founder and CEO of Wayve, said.

“Wayve is pushing the frontier of embodied AI for autonomous driving, and Azure supports the scale, reliability, and safety needed to bring that innovation into the real world. Through our partnership and investment, we’re helping accelerate the path from breakthrough research to scaled commercial deployment with automakers worldwide,” Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft, added.

Last year, it was reported that Nissan Motor is teaming up with Wayve to develop the next generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system, set to debut in vehicles within the next two years.